Why 'Muohta'? I hear you cry! Well, in February 2011, I visited N Lapland, the land of the Sami and the reindeer dog. It was incredibly cold (-48C most days) and I decided that Northern Sami names for different types of snow would be a change from the Finnish. Muohta simply means snow in N Sami. I have chosen a short-list of pedigree names for the pups, and so that those potential owners who are interested can select the pedigree name if they wish.
So, onto the birth photos and vital statistics:
Dam: Elbereth Ilo (joy) at Starlapps x Sire: Lampinlumon Karvajalka (furry foot) at Honeybears
Puppies born on
15/07/11, just after breakfast, so very civilised Ilo! Six pups, 4 girls and 2 boys. 5 very well marked black with pale tan and white, and one pale cream girl. All pups reasonable weight for breed and weights were evenly distributed with none giving cause for concern.
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| Girl 1 09:42 318g |
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| Girl 2 09:58 285g |
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Boy 1 1235 314
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| Boy 2 12:55 304g |
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Girl 3 13:25 292g
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| Girl 4 14:20 293g |
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Week one shots were taken single-handed, no Karen this time, but all the pups were good little subjects. The eyebrows are quite a feature already, enjoy:
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| Girl 1 wk1 620g |
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| Girl 2 wk1 588g |
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| Boy 1 wk1 680g |
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| Boy 2 wk1 620g |
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| Girl 3 wk1 634g |
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| Girl 4 wk1 644g |
Week Two - I can't believe how fast the time is going and how quickly they are changing...there are visible differences every single day:
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| Girl 1 'V' 934g |
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| Girl 2 'Brûlée' 902g |
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| Boy 1 'Tips' 1010g |
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| Boy 2 'Stripe' 932g |
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| Girl 3 'Sox' 912g | | |
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| Girl 4 'Blaze' 988g |
Week Three - has seen the end to peace and quiet. They are really beginning to develop and Tips and Blaze are exceptionally greedy....
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| 'V' 1320g |
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| 'Brûlée' 1380g |
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| 'Tips' 1518g |
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| 'Stripe' 1320g |
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| 'Sox' 1330g | | | |
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| 'Blaze' 1538g (!) |
Week Four - there is more of everything this week, more teeth, more fur, and more markings! - and Tips has finally overtaken Blaze on the scales (just).
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| 'V' 2.032g |
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| 'Brûlée' 1.924g | | | |
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| 'Tips' 2.273g |
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| 'Stripe' 1.880g |
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| 'Sox' 1.814g |
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| 'Blaze' 2.234g |
Week 5 pics courtesy of Liz doing the posing, and all have gained a vast amount of weight this week, so:
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| V |
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| 2.738g | | |
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| 'Brûlée |
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| 2.597g | | | | |
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| Tips |
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| 3.009g |
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| 2.521g |
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| Stripe |
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| Sox |
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| 2.462g |
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| Blaze |
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| 2.951g |
Week 6 has seen them turn into real little dogs...with less cooperation on the posing but some dedication and persistance from Carol we managed some shots of them all. Some were very particular about their chosen surface though:
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| 3.235 Kg |
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| V |
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| 'Brûlée' |
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| 3.138 Kg |
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| 3.652 Kg | |
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| Tips |
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| Stripe |
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| 3,101 Kg |
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| 3,014 Kg |
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| Sox |
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| 3,312 Kg |
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| Blaze |
Weeks 7-8 Leaving home
Just in time the KC approval for names came through and puppy packs arrived 10 minutes before the first left the nest. Their pedigree names are N Sami for different types of snow, and each has a Finnish or Greek(!) call name, and here they are in order of leaving:
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| Brûlée: Starlapps Sittardit (very pretty snowfall) is Mia, leaving for Fordingbridge with the Bowden-Smiths (3.49kg) |
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| Tips: Starlapps Borga (snowdrift) is Filo, off to SW London with the Giannopoulos family (4.19kg) |
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| V: Starlapps Faskka (snow blown by wind into an embankment) is Tuula off to Burgess Hill with the Greenfields and their Norwegian Forest cats (3.62kg) |
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| Sox: Starlapps Fieski (snow trodden by grazing reindeer) is Tali joining the Tattersalls in Wimbledon (3.34kg) |
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| Stripe: Starlapps Oppas (deep untouched virgin snow) is now Finn and joining the Chards in Storrington (3.49kg) |
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| Blaze: Starlapps Jolas (single tracks in deep snow made by reindeer, wolf or dog) is Tykky, captured in a rare moment sleeping, and is staying in Rye with Mum (3.91kg) |
New homes
I have been sent some really stunning photos of the pups in their new homes - it was so hard to choose!
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| Tali waiting to pounce |
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Mia, first to open her eyes and first with her ears up!
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| Filo looking chilled |
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| Tuula in bracken with David |
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Finn, checking out the undergrowth
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